Prop. 8 backers fear instruction in gay marriage

Warning to gay-marriage backers: Companies urged to back ProtectMarriage.com as well. A4

AT ISSUE:
PROPOSITION 8 AND SCHOOLS

The Nov. 4 ballot measure would amend the state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and woman, overturning a state Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

Pro: If Proposition 8 does not pass, schools could be required to include same-sex-marriage instruction.

Con: School districts would retain authority over lesson plans, and state law allows parents to keep children out of classes if they object to the curriculum.

SACRAMENTO – Supporters of Proposition 8 have broadened their television campaign, moving beyond the fundamental question of whether gay couples should be allowed to marry.

They are focusing on what they contend are potential consequences if voters reject the measure, raising the possibility that schools ultimately would be compelled to incorporate same-sex marriage into lesson plans.

That claim is dismissed by many educators, who say the state education code yields to local school districts when it comes to choosing how to approach the touchy subjects of marriage and sex education – if at all. And, they stress, state law allows parents to keep their children out of class if they are uncomfortable with course materials.

Educators in the San Diego region are sharply divided, and local school board policies take different approaches toward same-sex marriage. Escalating the divide: a $1 million contribution by the California Teachers Association to defeat Proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

Jim Groth, a member of the teachers union's executive board in San Diego, explained the donation. “Proposition 8 will not affect teaching in our schools. Those are lies being crafted to scare people,” he said. “No child can be taught anything about health and family education against the will of their parents.”

The association's move frustrated Randy Schimpf, a Ramona fourth-grade teacher who supports Proposition 8. If the state continues to allow same-sex marriages, “there will be a time when we, as teachers, will be asked to teach that gay and lesbian marriages are normal,” he said.

Polls show Proposition 8 gaining ground but still trailing heading into the Nov. 4 election.

Opponents of same-sex marriage, already a fervent force, have been further galvanized by a hard-hitting television commercial featuring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. He is seen gloating: “The door is wide-open now. . . . It's going to happen whether you like it or not,” after the state Supreme Court in May, on a 4-3 vote, overturned a 2000 voter-imposed ban on gay marriages.

The commercial shifts to Richard Peterson, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, who warns that “gay marriage will be taught in schools . . . churches could lose their tax exemption,” and that there will be “people sued over personal beliefs.”

Supporters of Proposition 8 initially tried to make similar arguments in the official state voter pamphlet, but a judge ruled that those accusations were “false and misleading.”

Instead, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley ordered Proposition 8 supporters to couch the wording by using terms such as “may” or “could” in describing the measure's effect on same-sex weddings' becoming part of the curriculum.